How is square footage measured?

I'm looking at house plans with the intention of building in the near future. I have been limiting my search to ranches under 1800 square feet for budget reasons. I just looked at a builder's ranch that the real estate agent said was 1560 square feet but when I calculated the square footage from the floor plan based on dimensions to the outside edges of the exterior walls (excluding garage), I came up with over 2300 square feet. Am I measuring the square footage correctly, which means that the agent isn't even close. I can't imagine another way to measure that could account for such a large difference. Incidently, the price listed on the plan is much too low for 2300+ square feet - more consistent with the 1560 square feet the agent claimes. Any thoughts?

Thanks John

Reply to
John Richards
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Kinda depends on who you're talking to... Some reference inside dimensions, while other reference outside.

Notan

Reply to
Notan

Still.... that is a difference of under 10% ... not 47%! You could try analize which portion might have been left out, based on the figure.Sorry I can't make further sense of this.

Reply to
zenboom

There are many diffrent kinds of square foot. They are all square and they are all a foot.

Sometimes you include everything covered by a roof. Even outside the walls. Sometimes you go to the outside of the walls. Sometimes you go to the inside of the walls. Sometimes you go to the center of some walls and the side of other walls. I think I've heard of "livable" which doesn't count some part of perfectly useful indoor space. I think sometimes basements aren't included (particularly if "unfinished")

Reply to
gruhn

Thanks for your reply.

I can understand those two methods but that doesn't come close to accounting for a difference of over 700 square feet! Any other comments?

John

Reply to
John Richards

Check gruhn's post...

In addition, garages can go either way.

Notan

Reply to
Notan

LOL! $100.00SF doesn't build a dog house around here... Here in the NE a basic suburban 1500SF ranch starts at about 300K to build. Sells for about $400-450K

Reply to
Pierre Levesque, AIA

How ranches have depreciated in size - seems barely large enough to erect even a moderate sized house.

Reply to
o8TY

Thanks for the reply.

I did not include the garage (as stated in my original post), porch or basement (full but unfinished basement) in my measurement of the square footage. I used the detailed dimensions between the exteriors of the outside walls. These dimensions result in 2382 square feet. The area taken up by exterior (2X6) and interior (2X4) walls is approximately 150 s.f. which brings the total down to 2232 and even eliminating all closets, laundry room and stairway ( about 230 s.f.) the total is still down to only

2000 s.f., still 440 s.f. more than the 1560 s.f. that the agent quoted and much more area than would be expected for a price of $198,000 including the lot (guessing the lot to be about $30,000).

Then I guess the question is how do you measure "living area".

Even excluding all exterior and interior walls, all closets and laundry room and the stairway I still come up with 2000 s.f.!

I still don't know how this house could only be considered 1560 s.f.

John

Reply to
John Richards

Just playing devil's advocate...

How about hallways, entryways, etc?

Notan

Reply to
Notan

I hear ya...

Reply to
Pierre Levesque, AIA

"Pierre Levesque, AIA" wrote in message news:Obkse.2664$EH1.929@trndny03... >> Usually, contractors base their square foot price on the living area only, >> at about $100 per s.f. >> So, for example, a 1560 s.f. home would cost about $156,000.00 >

Around here you can build for a 100 a s.f. It will get you plastic siding, carpet that will last 3 years, cabinets that will crumble in 5, light fixtures that will fall off in 2, shingle that may last ten.....you get the idea.......Decent construction is running 125-150, good from

150-250, and then there is the premiums...........and that is not including appliances and landscaping
Reply to
P. Fritz

John...

You have received interesting replies to your question. Hopefully the following will help.

  1. In my experience as an architect in different states and cities, with both custom and spec houses, I have found that there are different ways to calculate floor area. In our current practice, based in San Antonio and Austin, Texas....the standard calculation is to count to the exterior face of the outside wall sheathing....this is the board or plywood or other material that goes over the wood stud framing. The standard calculation is to count what is called "air-conditioned space" this is a way to exclude garages and any exterior storage areas, decks, etc. Roofs have nothing to do with the standard real estate calculation here. (To calculate my fees for custom homes, I usually charge by the square foot of "interior space" ....then I include spaces like porches, terraces, garages etc. by counting them as 50 percent of their actual floor area).

  1. From what you have said so far..... I suspect that the drawings are wrong, or the real estate agent is wrong....or someone is lying to you. Now. you may be seduced into thinking that this would work to your favor given the apparently low price....but it would come back to get you during construction....no one is going to give you square footage for free.

I hope this helps!!!

Christopher Egan Architect San Antonio, Texas & Mexico City

www.egan-mart> > "John Richards"> wrote

Reply to
cegan

I attached a scan to a post but the post didn't show up. Guess I'll have to wait until the time to build gets closer and find out first hand from an actual builder.

Thanks all for your time. John

Reply to
John Richards

Exactly the way I calculated the s.f. according to the drawings, completely excluding the garage, porches and decks.

I first became aware of the house when it was advertised in the newspaper classifieds as an open house. When my wife and I toured the house I was impressed with the spacious feel and the upgraded flooring (all hardwoods and ceramic throughout) for the price. The agent gave me a detailed copy of the floor plan which did not mention the s.f. but did have a stated price of $198,000. I asked what the s.f. was and she said it was 1560 s.f. I thought that figure was probably about right considering the price, but after calculating the acual s.f. from the drawings and coming up with over

2300 s.f. it occured to me that this would explain the "spacious" feel of the house.

My first thought when I came up with the extra area was that the dimensions of the actual house were smaller than in the drawing. I have a pretty good feel for the actual size of an individual room by making a mental comparison with the rooms in my current house and with other houses I have visited. Based on this "feeling", I'm pretty sure that the room dimensions in the drawing are about the same as the actual dimensions so I think the drawings are reasonably accurate.

I'm sure that based on your description of the standard method of calculating s.f., the agent is way off - can't imagine why she would intentionally UNDERstate the size of the house. I'm also confident that the price stated on the drawing is what I would have to pay for the house - the drawing includes a listing of the standard features and the upgrades included in the house.

I'm not ready to build right now anyway so what this builder would charge is somewhat moot. My only objective is to study existing plans and visit representative open houses to zero in on a design that has a good feel to it at a specific price point. To narrow my search for published plans to those that should fall within my budget, I have to have an idea how much square footage I can afford. Where I live, typical basic tract houses start at less than $100 per s.f. including lot. My hope was to aim for a total of about $200,000 for a ranch with a few upgrades and a lot. I'm thinking that if a lot is going to be about $30,000 I would be able to afford about $170,000 for the actual house. I was concentrating on plans from about 1500 to 1700 s.f. to stay within my budget. Based on my experience with the house under discussion, I'm no longer confident that all published plans listed as 1700 s.f. are the same size! Should I calculate the "correct" size based on the above method and dismiss any plans that I find to be substantially larger?

I still don't know how the builder can sell what appears to be a reasonably well built 2382 s.f. ranch with a few upgrades including lot for $198,000.

Yes, it confirmed my understanding of how s.f. should be calculated but I think the only person who could explain how the s.f. of this house was calculated is the builder.

Thanks John

Reply to
John Richards

I was initially offended by your above comments but realized that you don't know me and you may have gotten the idea that I am a bit "dim" or maybe dishonest.

Point 1: If I signed a contract I would certainly include the actual blueprints as part of the contract. Since the actual dimensions of the proposed house would be clearly represented on the blueprints and the agreed upon price would include all the expected costs of building the house to those dimensions, the "calculated" s.f., if different from the actual s.f., would be irrelevant. If a s.f. figure were included in the contract, I would also request a description of the method used to arrive at this figure.

Point 2: I agree, nothing is free. I'm certanly not trying to get something for nothing - just trying to understand how reasonable building costs are determined so I can limit my search to appropriate plans.

Point 3: I agree again, this stuff is definitely nothing to play around with!

Point 4: I am not going into this thing at all and if I did I would certainly have an attorney involved. Right now I am in the early planning stages. I don't anticipate being ready to build anything before next spring.

Regards John

Reply to
John Richards

Yes, I know. I wasn't asking for advice on whether I should pursue the house - just on how the s.f. might have been determined by the builder. I quess, based on my posts, that a red flag may have gone up indicating that I might be trying to jump into something unwise and you were just trying to give me a "heads up". I appreciate that in spite of my initial reaction.

In reply to the above and your other reply suggesting I actually measure the house:

I emailed the agent and explained how I determined the s.f. and pointed out the large discrepancy. I asked her if she could clarify their method of calculating s.f. and explain the reason for the discrepancy. If her response still leaves me in the dark, I may just visit the house and do some actual measurements as you suggest.

Regards John

Reply to
John Richards

The first question should be where did the SF number come from. It may have been provided by the builder or the RE agency might have provided it. Frankly, it doesn't make a big difference. Never trust the numbers you're given.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

This will take a little more research on your part and an investment of $10 but you can download a copy of the most recent NAHB guidelines for square footage calculations. It is in PDF format and I have included the link below. It is a pretty simple document (about 13 pages). If your builder is a member of NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) then he should be following these guidelines. If these guidelines are not being followed, it could set him up for substantial lawsuits in the future. This is one of the things that is making multifamily housing/design in the west such a pain in the ass! Square footage is one of the major litigation issues. Joe Blow moves into his new condo and measures it and finds that it is 83 square feet smaller than his paperwork shows. He sues the builder, who then names the architect, engineer and anyone else that has insurance or a deep pocket. Then he gets refunded the x # of dollars per square foot he paid and the lawyers walk away with millions in their pockets. Isnt it a wonderful society we live in today!

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Good Luck....

-Robert

"John Richards" wrote in message news:c1hse.13645$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.nyroc.rr.com...

Reply to
Robert Klob

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